Written by Jens Erik Jørgensen29-09-2014 16:31:33. Posted in Lower extremity

Image by: coventrytelegraph

Body fat percentage, BMI and lower extremity injuries

Overweight among children has often been recognized as being a risk factor for sustaining lower extremity injuries in in sport. Previous studies have been inconclusive and the methods of weight measuring differ between studies.

The aim was to compare two different types of body-weight measurements: body mass index (BMI) and total body fat percentage (TBF %), as risk factors for lower limb injuries. A total of 632 children, aged 7.7–12 years at baseline, participated.

There does seem to be a higher risk of lower limb injuries in overweight children. When comparing TBF and BMI, TBF had a higher risk of lower limb injury. The study therefore indicates that adiposity is more predictive of lower limb injury. This may be due to a lower level of lean muscle mass. Secondary to this the study also showed that increased physical education, fitness and leisure time sports increased the risk of lower limb injury. This may be due to the increased exposure time to sport, in this group of children.

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